Device for loading radioactive seeds

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a loader device, for dispensing implantation seeds from a seed magazine and, optionally, a spacer magazine.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices for loading radioactive seedsand optionally spacers into needles, catheters or other means, prior toadministration to a patient.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The treatment of prostrate cancers by brachytherapy, i.e. the permanentimplantation of radioactive sources (known as “seeds”) into a patient'sbody, involves the administration of typically 80-100 seeds per patientin a defined 3-D array. These seeds can be implanted by two differentmethods. In the first method, known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,373, a seedplug is assembled by hand from alternating loose seeds and biodegradablespacers (e.g. made of catgut) picked from a dish. The spacers can haveany desired length and are positioned between the seeds in order to givethe required separation between the seeds. The assembled plug is thenimplanted into the patient via a needle. A problem with this method isthe person making the plug is exposed to radiation from the loose seedsin the dish and is also exposed to radiation when loading the seeds intothe implantation needle. A further disadvantage is that considerablenumbers of seeds and spacers have to be handled individually and eachconfigured in the correct orientation to give the desired end-to-end“plug”. The seed/spacers are also small e.g. typically 4-6 mm long, andthis leads to time-consuming manual handling, with an associatedradiation dose hazard. However this method has the advantage that asseveral seeds can be implanted in the patient at once through usingpre-made plugs, the time spent in the operating theatre is reduced andthe spatial separation of the seeds can be checked before implanting. Afurther problem with this method is that it requires the use of spacers.Spacers which are supplied loose suffer from the problems that theyoften have uneven, i.e. inconsistent lengths, they can have frayed ends,they swell if exposed to high humidity, they can pick up static chargesif dry, they are not easy to see and their properties vary betweensuppliers.

In the second method, known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,909, individualseeds are implanted one at a time through a needle that is retracted insmall steps out of the patient's tissue, with a seed being deposited inthe tissue after each retraction step. No spacers are required in thismethod as the spacing between the seeds is determined by the amount bywhich the needle is retracted after each seed is deposited. A commonlyused device for performing the second method is called a “MickApplicator™”. In order to facilitate the handling of the individualseeds for use in a “Mick Applicator™”, a plurality of seeds can besupplied pre-packaged in a plastic or stainless steel magazine called a“Mick Cartridge™”. This method exposes the operator to less radiation,as the magazines provide substantial radiation shielding except directlyin front of the opening in the front of the magazine. However thismethod has the disadvantage that the time spent in the operating theatreis longer than for the first method as each seed is individuallyimplanted and the needle must be retracted a precise distance before thenext seed is implanted. Additionally, it is difficult to confirm thespatial separation between the seeds. It is an object of the presentinvention to overcome some of the problems associated with the prior artmethods and devices for implanting seeds.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, at least some of the problems withthe prior art devices and methods for loading seed implant needles aresolved by means of a loader device of the instant invention and themethods for using such devices to load seed implant needles. The deviceand its use makes it possible for an operator to quickly, easily andaccurately prepare loaded seed needles for implantation while beingexposed to a minimum dose of radiation.

The device preferably incorporates a spacer magazine which has theadvantages that spacers are protected by the magazine, and the fact thata spacer fits into the spacer magazine is a guarantee that it fulfils atleast some of the dimensional requirements placed on a spacer, i.e. ithas a length less than the maximum permitted length and a diameter lessthan the maximum permitted diameter. The spacers are preferablybiodegradable spacers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a view from the front of one embodiment of a loader devicein accordance with the present invention in a first state;

FIG. 2 shows a lateral view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a view from the front of the loader device of FIG. 1 in asecond state;

FIG. 4 shows a lateral view of the device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a lateral view of an embodiment of a magazine suitable foruse with a loader device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a view from the end of the magazine of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a view from the front of a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 shows a view from the front of a third embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 9 shows a lateral view of the device of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 shows a front view of a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a frontal view, resp. a lateral view of an embodimentof loader device 1 in accordance with the present invention. Thesefigures are not to scale, internal features being shown unproportionallylarge in order to aid the clarity of illustration. The loader inaccordance with the present invention is intended to facilitate thepreparation of seed implant needles and is not intended to be used forthe direct administration of seeds to a patient. Loader 1 has anelongated body 3 with a front and a rear wide face 5′, resp 5″, a firstand a second short face 7′, resp. 7″, and upper and lower end faces 9′,resp. 9″. Body 3 is provided with a longitudinal through hole 11 thatextends from an opening 6 in the surface of the upper end face 9′ to adispensing outlet 8 on the lower end face 9″ and which has steppeddiameters D1, D2, D3. The diameter D1 of through hole 11 is greatest inits upper portion 13 which extends from the upper end face 9′ to anintermediate portion 15 that starts approximately one third of thedistance down through hole 11. The intermediate portion 15 has anintermediate diameter D2 and extends from the lower end of upper portion13 to approximately one half of the distance down through hole 11. Thediameter D3 of through hole 11 is narrowest in the lower portion 17 thatextends from the lower end of intermediate portion 15 to lower end face9″. Lower portion 17 is intended to act as a seed-transporting path forguiding seeds to the dispensing outlet 8. Note that any mentions ofdirection in this description refer to a frame of reference where theloader 1 is in its preferred operating orientation in which the upperend face 9′ is uppermost and the loader held substantially vertically.

Body 3 is made of a radiation shielding material of a suitable thicknessto shield an operator from radiation emitted by radioactive seedscontained within it. Body 3 is provided with a lateral opening 19 on afirst short face 7′. This opening 19 leads to a recess 23 adapted toreceive a standard seed magazine (not shown). Recess 23 comprises afirst cylindrical portion 25 with a diameter D4 adapted to receive thebody of a seed magazine, and a rectangular portion 27 adapted to receiveand retain the rectangular locating arms of a seed magazine. Rectangularportion 27 intersects through hole 11 approximately one third of thedistance from the lower end face 9″. The lengths and orientations ofcylindrical portion 25 and rectangular portion 27 are adapted so thatwhen a seed magazine is inserted fully into recess 23 then theseed-dispensing hole in the seed magazine (described below) is alignedwith through hole 11.

The front wide face 5′ is provided with a spacer-transporting path inthe form of a spacer inlet opening 29 leading to a spacer receivingrecess 31 that is connected by a internal chute 33 to the outlet 8 ofthrough hole 11. Opening 29 is sufficiently large that a spacer (notshown) can be easily loaded into the recess 31. The bottom portion 35 ofspacer receiving recess 31 is preferably funnel-shaped in order tofacilitate the entry of spacers into chute 33. The diameter of chute 33is greater than the diameter of a spacer so that spacers can betransported through chute 33 to outlet 8.

Through hole 11 can receive seed dispensing means such as a steppedcylindrical plunger 37, shown in a raised position in FIGS. 1 and 2.Plunger 37 has an upper portion 39 with a diameter D5 less than D1 andgreater than D2, and a length which is the same as or greater than thelength of through hole upper portion 13. Upper portion 39 is connectedto a concentric intermediate portion 41 with a diameter D6 which is lessthan D2 and greater than D3, and a length which is approximately thesame as or greater than the length of through hole intermediate portion15.

Intermediate portion 41 is connected to a concentric lower portion 43with a diameter D7 that is less than D3 and less than the diameter ofthe seed-dispensing hole in the seed magazine. Lower portion 43 has alength which is approximately the same as or greater than the distancefrom the bottom of through hole intermediate portion 15 to the bottomsurface of rectangular portion 27. The lengths of the plunger portions39, 41, 43 and through hole portions 13, 15, 17 can be varied asdesired, the only requirement is that they should make it possible toretract the plunger 37 to a seed loading upper position where lowerplunger portion 43 is above the seed-dispensing hole of a seed magazinepositioned in recess 23, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and they also shouldmake it possible to depress plunger 37 to a dispensing lower position inwhich lower plunger portion 43 extends through the seed-dispensing holeof a seed magazine positioned in recess 23, as shown in FIG. 3. Thismakes it possible to push any seed that is positioned in the seeddispensing hole down into the through hole 11 where it then falls to,and through, outlet 8. Plunger 37 is preferably provided with a sealingmeans 45 such as an O-ring to prevent unwanted material entering thelower portions of through hole 11. The upper end of plunger 37 can beprovided with a actuating surface 47 which has a larger surface areathan plunger upper portion 39, and which can be used to lift and depressplunger 37. If desired, plunger 37 can be provided with resilient meanssuch as a spring 49, which biases plunger 37 to the upper loadingposition.

The lower end of through hole is provided with adapter means such as athreaded boss 51 or a Luer needle fitting or the like, that implantationneedles or a capsule or other container can be attached to. It is alsoconceivable to provide universal adapters.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show side and end views respectively of a seed magazine 53or spacer magazine 53A that can be fitted into a loader in accordancewith the present invention. Magazine 53/53A has an elongated, hollowbody 55 with a hexagonal cross-section. Other cross-sectional shapes arealso possible, e.g. circular, square, oval, etc. When used forcontaining radioactive seeds, the body 55 is preferably made of amaterial with radiation shielding properties such as leaded plastic,stainless steel, lead glass, lead, tungsten, etc A first, loading end ofthe body is closed by a removable end plate 57, while the other end isprovided with a seed- or spacer-dispensing outlet 59 arranged betweentwo longitudinally projecting locating arms 61. The outlet 59 comprisesa vertical seed-dispensing hole 63 bored through the locating arms 61.Seeds 65 or spacers 65A are arranged in a row inside the magazine 53/53Aand pushed towards the hole 63 by resilient means such as a spring 67inside the magazine 53/53A. The force provided by the spring 67 issufficiently high that the friction between the wall of the hole 63 anda terminal seed 65 or spacer 65A in the hole 63 is enough to prevent theseed 65 or spacer 65A from falling out of the hole 63 under theinfluence of gravity.

Preferably, a magazine 53A used for spacers is filled with spacers 65A,preferably made of a synthetic, bioabsorbable material. Prior artspacers have been made of catgut—a material of animal origin that isundesirable from a regulatory and customer acceptability standpoint. Anexample of such a synthetic, bioabsorbable material is Vicryl™ that ismade of approximately 90% polyglycollic acid and 10% polyactic acid. Thespacer material is also preferably resistant to the temperatures usedfor heat sterilisation by autoclaving or dry heat sterilisation. Spacers65A can be supplied sterile in a sterile magazine 53A in asterile-integrity packaging material such as Tyvek™. The sterilisationcan be performed in any suitable way, e.g. by heating or exposure toethylene oxide gas (in which case a gas permeable packaging material isnecessary if the sterilisation occurs after a magazine has beenpackaged), depending on the composition of the spacers used. The use ofprepacked, sterile spacers has the advantage that the operator does notneed to load his own magazines 53A with spacers 65A nor does he need tospend time sterilising the spacers before use. This ensures that sterilespacers are used.

Similarly, seeds 65 can also be supplied sterile and preloaded in amagazine for seeds 53. This magazine 53 can be supplied sterile in asterile-integrity packaging material such as Tyvek™. The seeds andmagazine can be sterilised in any suitable way, for example, in the waysmentioned above with respect to spacers 65A in a spacer magazine.Preferably a variety of pack sizes can be provided, e.g. packscontaining a magazine 53 loaded with 5 seeds 65, or 10 seeds or 15seeds, etc.

The use of a loader in accordance with the present invention for loadingan implantation needle will now be illustrated. An operator holds theloader 1 in an upright position or places it in a stand in an uprightposition. A seed magazine 53 containing seeds 65 is inserted throughopening 21 until the seed-dispensing hole 63 in the magazine is alignedwith through hole 11. Although not shown, loader 1 preferably haslocking means such as a locking detent for releasably retaining amagazine 53 in this position. An implantation needle is then attached toadapter means 51. In order to prevent the seeds and spacers from fallingout of the bottom end of the needle, the bottom end of the needle can beprovided with removable closing means such as a plug or an end cap. Theplunger 37 is then depressed by the operator to its lower,seed-dispensing position. As the plunger 37 is depressed, lower plungerportion 43 passes through seed-dispensing hole 63 in the magazine 53 andpushes a seed 65 out of the magazine 53 and into the lower through holeportion 17. As the diameter of lower through hole portion 17 is greaterthan the diameter of the seed, the seed falls freely through the throughhole 11 and out of its lower end, through adapter 51 and into theneedle. The plunger 37 is then lifted to its upper, loading position. Asthe lower plunger portion 43 passes back up through the seed-dispensing63 hole of the magazine 53, a new seed 65 is loaded into theseed-dispensing hole by the resilient means 67 of the magazine 53. Theoperator then places a spacer 65A of the desired dimensions into spacerreceiving recess 31 and releases the spacer 65A. The spacer 65A fallsdown the internal chute 33, which has a diameter greater than thediameter of the spacer and enters the needle via adapter 51. Thisprocedure is repeated until the desired number of seeds and spacers havebeen loaded into the needle. The needle can then be removed from adapter51 and used or stored for later use. The procedure can be repeated forall the needles required for the treatment.

The use of a loader in accordance with the present invention for forminga seed plug will now be illustrated. An operator holds the loader 1 inan upright position or places it in a stand in an upright position. Aseed magazine containing seeds 53 is inserted through opening 21 untilthe seed-dispensing hole in the magazine is aligned with through hole11. A seed plug container is then attached to adapter means 51. Thiscontainer is preferably transparent in order to allow the operator tocheck that the loading is proceeding without problem and to allowchecking of the number of seeds and their spacing. In order to shield anoperator from radiation, the transparent container and any othertransparent parts of a device in accordance with the present invention,as described later, are preferably made of a radiation attenuatingtransparent material such as leaded acrylic. In order to facilitatechecking the number of seeds and their spacing, the container ispreferably provided with graduated marks. In order to prevent the seedsfalling out of the bottom end of the container, the bottom end of thecontainer is provided with a removable plug or sealed in some other way.The plunger 37 is then depressed by the operator to its lower,seed-dispensing position and, just as in the previous example, a seed isfed into the container. The operator then places a spacer 65A of thedesired length into spacer receiving recess 31 and releases the spacer65A. The space falls down the internal chute 33, which has a diametergreater than the diameter of the spacer 65A and enters the container viaadapter 51. This procedure is repeated until the desired number of seeds65 and spacers 65A have been loaded into the container that can then beremoved from adapter 51 and used or stored for later use.

In the event that the operator wishes to remove a seed 65 from the seedmagazine 53 in order to, for example, measure its radioactivity, then aseed magazine 65 can be attached as normal, any suitable containerplaced under the loader 1 and a seed 65 ejected into the container bydepressing plunger 37.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of a loader 101 in accordance with thepresent invention. For the sake of brevity, many features have afunction similar to that of the first embodiment of the presentinvention and will not be described for this embodiment. In thisembodiment, the loader is provided with a first, seed dispensing meanssuch as a plunger 137 and a second, spacer-dispensing means such as aplunger 197 and first and second magazine receiving recesses 123, resp.183. First magazine receiving recess 123 is adapted to receive andretain a seed magazine 53, while second magazine receiving recess 183 isadapted to receive and retain a s pacer magazine 53A. As mentionedabove, spacer magazine 53A contains pre-cut spacers 65A and works in asimilar way to a seed magazine 53. Preferably the magazine is sterileand the contents of the magazine are sterile before being put into themagazine. It is furthermore preferable that loaded and empty magazinesand the loader can be sterilised, for example, by heating in anautoclave. In order to avoid confusion, seed magazines and spacermagazines can have different shapes or sizes, this is a preferredsituation, especially as spacers 65A and seeds 65 often have differentlengths, e.g. spacers 65A can be 5.5 mm long whiles seeds 65 can be 4.5mm long. Alternatively, in the interests of economy it is possible touse the same magazines for seeds and spacers, in which case it ispreferable to have different colours or other markings to avoidconfusion. In any case it can be useful to have different colours forthe different types of magazines, e.g. spacers could be supplied in awhite magazine and seeds in a blue magazine. If different shaped orsized magazines are used then the diameters D4, resp. D14 of the firstand second magazine receiving recesses and/or the shapes of theserecesses should be correspondingly adapted in order to prevent the wrongtype of magazine being retained in a recess.

First plunger 137 is movably fitted into a first stepped through hole111 which leads to an outlet 108 able to be fitted with an adapter 151while second plunger 197 is movably fitted into a second stepped hole171 which also leads to outlet 108. Loader 101 can be operated in asimilar way to loader 1 except that with loader 101 spacers can beloaded by depressing plunger 167 instead of by loading individualspacers by hand through a spacer inlet opening.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of a loader 201 in accordance withthe present invention. For the sake of brevity, many features have afunction similar to that of the first and second embodiment of thepresent invention will not be described for this embodiment. For thesake of clarity of illustration, the hidden portions of plungers havebeen drawn with solid lines in FIG. 8 and the plungers omitted totallyfrom FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the loader is provided with a first,seed dispensing means such as a plunger 237 and a second,spacer-dispensing means such as a plunger 297 and first and secondmagazine receiving recesses 223, resp. 283. First magazine receivingrecess 223 is adapted to receive and retain a seed magazine 53, whilesecond magazine receiving recess 283 is adapted to receive and retain aspacer magazine 53A. As mentioned before, in order to avoid confusion,seed magazines 53 and spacer magazines 53A can have different shapes orsizes or colours. First plunger 237 is in a first stepped through hole211 which leads to the top of the first arm 275 of a Y-shaped channel277, while second plunger 297 is in a second stepped hole 271 whichleads to the top of the second arm 279 of the Y-shaped channel 277. Thetwo arms 275, 279 of the Y-shaped channel meet at the top of thevertical leg 281 of the Y-shaped channel 277. The arms 275, 279 arepreferably wider at the top and taper towards their intersection withleg 281. Arm 275 act as a seed-transporting path while arm 279 acts as aspacer-transporting path. Leg 281 extends down to an opening 208 in thebottom surface 285 of the loader. In order to prevent seeds 65 andspacers 65A from becoming jammed in the leg 281, the dimensions of leg281 is preferably selected so that it is sufficiently narrow to precludeseeds and spacers from passing each other (or to begin passing eachother). A removable blocking device such as a pin 287 is insertable in ahole 289 which extends from the rear surface of the loader towards thefront of the loader and which intersects leg 281. When inserted intohole 289, this pin 287 prevents seeds and spacers in the leg 281 frompassing. The front surface of loader 201 has a transparent portion 291,preferably made of radiation shielding material such as leaded acrylic,which allows an operator to see the contents of leg 281 while beingshielded from radiation emitted by seeds in leg 281. This transparentportion 291 can be made quickly and easily removable in order tofacilitate cleaning of the pathways, clearing foreign material orclearing any jammed seeds or spacers. In the event of a seed needing tobe removed this rapid disassembly means that the operator is exposed toradiation from the seed for only a short time and therefore receivesonly a small dose of radiation. When forming a plug of seeds andspacers, the pin 287 is placed in the blocking position and the seedsand spacers dropped onto the pin 287, so that they gradually fill up theleg 281. The transparent portion 291 can be provided with graduationmarks to aid checking the number of seeds and spacers in the device. Thetransparent portion 291 allows the operator to check the progress of theplug construction and, if the operator is interrupted when building aplug, it allows him to check on his return the status of the plug underconstruction. Non-standard arrangements of seeds and spacers, e.g. seedsseparated by a variable number of spacers can also be validated visiblythrough transparent portion 291 before being loaded into a needle.

Loader 201 can be operated in a similar way to loader 101.

In a further embodiment of the invention, shown schematically in FIG.10, a single plunger 337 is used to alternatingly load a spacer 65A anda seed 65. Plunger 337 is connected to a piston 351 which has twoextensions 353, 355 which are aligned with the arms 375, 379 of aY-shaped channel 377 which forms the seed and spacer transporting path.Extension 353 is shorter than extension 355. This means than whenplunger 337 is depressed then extension 355 will pass through themagazine (not shown) in first magazine receiving port 359 beforeextension 353 passes through the magazine (not shown) in second magazinereceiving port 357. Plunger 337 is provided with 3 recesses 361′-361′″that can co-operate with a spring-loaded indexing pin 363 on the insideof the hole 311 in which it is supported. The first recess 361′ isaligned with the indexing pin 363 when neither extension is in line withthe magazine receiving ports 357, 359. Second recess 361″ is alignedwith the indexing pin 363 when extension 355 has passed through thelevel of the magazine receiving ports 357, 359. Third recess 361′″ isaligned with the indexing pin 363 when extension 353 has passed throughthe level of the magazine receiving ports 357, 359. An operator can loadmagazines onto this loader after raising plunger 337 until the firstrecess 361′ is aligned with the indexing pin 363. Let us assume that thefirst magazine contains seeds and second magazine contains spacers. Theoperator can then eject a seed 65 from the first magazine by loweringplunger 337 until second recess 361″ is aligned with the indexing pin363. A spacer 65′ can then be ejected by depressing plunger 337 untilthird recess 361′″ is aligned with the indexing pin 363. If it isdesired to eject a further spacer before ejecting a further seed thenthe plunger is lifted up until second recess 361″ is aligned with theindexing pin 363 and then depressed again. If it is desired to load aseed then the plunger is lifted until first recess 361′ is aligned withthe indexing pin 363 and then lowered again until second recess 361″ isaligned with the indexing pin 363.

The loaders 1, 101, 201 in accordance with the present invention arepreferably made from materials that provide screening againstradioactivity, such as leaded plastic, stainless steel, lead glass,lead, tungsten, etc.

The above embodiments may be modified by providing separate dispensingoutlets for seeds and spacers. These outlets can be connected bytransparent tubes to a single needle or container, thus permitting bothdispensing paths in the loader to be vertical and thereby reducing therisk of jamming occurring in the loader. The use of transparent tubesalso makes it possible for the operator to check if any seeds or spacershave become jammed in the tubes.

The above embodiments may also be modified by providing a device with aspacer magazine receiving port which is dimensioned so that, in theabsence of a spacer magazine, an operator can by hand (preferably aidedby forceps or the like) insert spacers into the port and drop them intothe spacer transporting path. Alternatively the device could be providedwith both a spacer magazine receiving port and a separate port for themanual introduction of spacers or other material into the spacertransporting path, so that an operator has the option of using amagazine or loading spacers or other material by hand.

Additionally, a device in accordance with the present invention isreadily adaptable for automation by providing plunger activation meanswhich can be controlled by a computer or remotely by an operator.Suitable actuating means could be, for example, hydraulic or pneumaticactuators, or electrically powered actuators such as electric motors,linear actuators and the like. Additionally, magazine-changing meanssuch as a robot arm could also be provided.

It is apparent that many modifications and variations of the inventionas hereinabove set forth may be made without departing from the spiritand scope thereof. The specific embodiments described are given by wayof example only, and the invention is limited only by the terms of theappended claims.

1. A loader device for dispensing seeds from a seed magazine and spacersinto a seed implant needle, wherein the seed magazine includes aplurality of serially-aligned seeds within a locating arm and means forintermittently advancing the seeds to a position aligned with a seedoutlet defined by the locating arm, said loader device comprising: anelongate loader body defining a seed input aperture, a spacer inputaperture, and a dispense aperture, a substantiallylongitudinally-oriented seed passageway extending between said seedinput aperture and said dispense aperture, and a substantiallylongitudinally-oriented spacer passageway extending between said spacerinput aperture and said dispense aperture, said loader body furtherdefining means for retentatively accommodating the seed magazine so asto position the seed outlet of the magazine in registry with said seedpassageway; and a plunger assembly operably associated with said loaderbody, said plunger assembly including an elongate plunger rodpositionable in spaced registry with the seed outlet of the seedmagazine, said plunger rod urgeable against a seed aligned with the seedoutlet of the seed magazine so as to eject the seed into said seedpassageway.
 2. The loader device of claim 1, wherein said loader bodyfurther defines an elongate dispense passageway communicating betweensaid seed passageway, said spacer passageway and said dispense aperture.3. The loader device of claim 2, wherein said dispense passageway isfurther defined by a transparent portion of said loader body and whereinsaid loader device further comprises a blocking pin which blocks passageof seeds and spacers therepast so as to allow an operator to visuallycheck on the order of seeds and spacers prior to loading into the seedimplant needle.
 4. The loader device of claim 1, wherein said loaderbody is oriented to allow for gravity-feed of the seeds and spacersthrough said dispense aperture.
 5. The loader device of claim 1, whereinsaid loader body further comprises means for affixing an elongateimplant need in registry with said dispense aperture for receiving theseeds and spacers dispensed therethrough.
 6. The loader device of claim5, wherein said plunger rod includes a first end which is extendablethrough the spacer arm of the spacer magazine.
 7. The loader device ofclaim 1, wherein said loader body further defines means forretentatively accommodating a spacer magazine, wherein the spacermagazine includes a plurality of serially-aligned spacers within alocating arm and means for intermittently advancing the spacers to aposition aligned with a spacer outlet defined by the locating arm so asto position the spacer outlet of the magazine in registry with saidspacer passageway; and a second plunger assembly operably associatedwith said loader body, said second plunger assembly including anelongate second plunger rod positionable in spaced registry with thespacer outlet of the spacer magazine, said second plunger rod urgeableagainst a spacer aligned with the spacer outlet of the spacer magazineso as to eject the spacer into said spacer passageway.
 8. The loaderdevice of claim 1, wherein said spacer magazine and seed magazine extendsubstantially normal to said loader body.
 9. The loader device of claim1, wherein said spacer magazine and seed magazine extend substantiallynormal to a portion of said spacer passageway and said seed passageway,respectively.
 10. The loader device of claim 1, wherein said spacermagazine and seed magazine extend in opposition to each other.
 11. Theloader device of claim 1, wherein said spacers are made of a synthetic,bioabsorbable material.
 12. The loader device of claim 11 wherein saidspacers in said spacer magazine are sterile.
 13. The loader device ofclaim 1, wherein said seed magazine contains seeds and said magazine andseeds are sterile and within sterile integrity packaging.
 14. Method fordispensing seeds and spacers, the seeds being dispensed from a seedmagazine, wherein the seed magazine includes a plurality ofserially-aligned seeds within a locating arm and means forintermittently advancing the seeds to a position aligned with a seedoutlet defined by the locating arm, said method comprising the steps of:(i) providing a loader with a body, seed magazine receiving and locatingmeans, seed dispensing means for ejecting seeds from a seed magazine, aseed-transporting path communicating with a dispensing outlet, and aspacer-transporting path communicating with the dispensing outlet; (ii)mounting a seed magazine containing one or more seeds in said seedtransporting path and dispensing a seed through said dispensing outlet;(iii) placing a spacer in said spacer transporting path; (iv) dispensingsaid spacer through said outlet.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinsaid spacers are placed and dispensed by the method comprising: (i)providing said loader with a spacer magazine receiving and locatingmeans; (ii) mounting a spacer magazine containing spacers in said spacermagazine receiving and locating means; (iii) ejecting a spacer into saidspacer transporting path; and (iv) dispensing said spacer through saiddispensing outlet).
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said spacers aremade of a synthetic, bioabsorbable material.
 17. The method of claim 15wherein said spacers in said spacer magazine are sterile.
 18. The loaderdevice of claim 15 wherein said seed magazine contains seeds and saidmagazine and seeds are sterile and within sterile integrity packaging.